SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 8 Oct (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister of Tourism and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands, Jéssica de León, announced today at the parliamentary venue that occupational health and safety technicians are currently visiting 228 hotels across all the islands to implement measures aimed at alleviating the workload of housekeeping staff.
This statement was made in response to a query from deputy Gustavo Santana (PSOE), who expressed his discontent regarding the Government of the Canary Islands’ decision to block the progress of the Socialist Group’s proposal that seeks to mandate the provision of lifting beds in hotel establishments, branding it as a “serious and undemocratic” action.
The socialist deputy pointed out that the workplace accident rate for housekeepers in the Canary Islands has risen by four points over the last three years, asserting that the adoption of this measure could potentially reduce the accident rate within this workforce by 50%, as observed in other autonomous communities, such as the Balearic Islands.
Santana also lamented that numerous deputies from the Canarian Coalition and the Popular Party are “silent and do not speak out” despite supporting this initiative, in order to prevent “the Regulations of the Chamber from being manipulated and aimed at approving,” or at the very least, discussing the proposal of the Socialist Group.
In her reply, the minister conveyed the “strong” commitment of the Government of the Canary Islands to modify Decree 142/2010, dated October 4, which governs tourism standards, to encompass “all measures identified by the ergonomic and psychosocial risk assessment currently being developed in the Canary Islands.”
Jéssica de León also urged the socialist deputy to be truthful, recalling that during his time as deputy minister for Employment, “he did not take any action in four years for the housekeepers of the Canary Islands.” She further clarified that it will be “occupational health and safety technicians and not a self-serving politician or group that will determine which measures will ease the workload of housekeepers.”
The minister additionally informed that the findings of the ergonomic study, being conducted by the Government of the Canary Islands, will be shared with the Ministry of Labour, taking into account the ongoing revision of the Occupational Health and Safety Law, which is reintegrating psychosocial loads into ergonomics.
Furthermore, she noted that eleven hotel applications have been submitted for the grants intended for the acquisition of lifting beds, with the Canary Islands Executive investing 500,000 euros in such equipment “without any requirement to make it compulsory.”
